
Q^J^^3^±^ 



Book 



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PRESENTED BT 1 ''' 



i 1 cT. 



L IF E 

The Seventeenth (^rove T^lay 

of the 

Bohemian Qlub 

1919 







LIFE 

BY 

HARRY LEON WILSON 

MUSIC BY 

DOMENICO BRESCIA 

THE SEVENTEENTH GROVE PLAY OF THE 

BOHEMIAN CLUB OF SAN FRANCISCO, AS 

PERFORMED BY ITS MEMBERS IN 

THE BOHEMIAN GROVE, SONOMA 

COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, ON THE 

TWENTY-EIGHTH NIGHT 

OF JUNE, NINETEEN 

HUNDRED AND 

NINETEEN 



t 



SAN FRANCISCO 

THE BOHEMIAN CLUB 
1919 






%o^ 

A 



,.n 



copyright, i9i9 
By The Bohemian Club 






PRESS OF THE H. S. CROCKER CO., INC. 
SAN FRANCISCO 



."^rHt-Ttr- — • 



rf) 



LU' 



CAST OF CHARACTERS 



THE SOWER 
OG 
JAD 
TULL 

FIRST TRIBESMAN 
SECOND TRIBESMAN 
THIRD TRIBESMAN 
FOURTH TRIBESMAN 
FIFTH TRIBESMAN 
SIXTH TRIBESMAN 
SEVENTH TRIBESMAN 
EIGHTH TRIBESMAN 
NINTH TRIBESMAN 
TENTH TRIBESMAN 
ELEVENTH TRIBESMAN 
TWELFTH TRIBESMAN 
THE WOMAN 



Samuel J. Hume 
Henry A. Melvin 
Dion Holm 
William S. Rainey 
M. C. Threlkeld 
Wm. B, Sanborn 
W. A. Bryant 
George H. Evans 
R. W. Davis 
Dewey Coffin 
W. A. Setchell 
Theodor Vogt 
Bush Finnell 
W. A. Doble 
H, B. Johnson, Jr. 
E. H. Denicke 
David Eisenbach 



Seedsmerty Flowers, Fruits, Women 



VOICES AND CHORUS 

INTERLUDE 

A VOICE {in the Chant of Annunciation) Charles Bulotti 



FIRST VOICE 




R. H. Lachmund 


SECOND VOICE 




Easton Kent 


THIRD VOICE 




E. J. Cardinall 


F. N. Anderson 


H. E. Hare 


W. H. Orr 


A. A. Arbogast 


R. B. Heath 


H, L Perry 


H. K. Baxter 


C. Herold 


G. Purlenky 


E. Blanchard 


W. F. Hooke 


A. L. Piper 


R. A. Brown 


W. H. HOPKINSON 


C. A. Rieser 


C. F. Bulotti 


Otis Johnson 


E. W. Roland 


W. H. Blatchly 


A. G. Kellogg 


Benj. Romaine 


E. J. Cardinall 


Easton Kent 


J. D. RUGGLES 


P. S. Carlton 


R. H. Lachmund 


A. W. Sperry 


Wm. Cross 


A. F. Lawton 


A. H. Still 


W. W. Davis 


R. LUNDGREN 


B. M. Stich 


T. G. Elliott 


R. I. Lynas 


John Stroud 


D. ElSENBACH 


E. H. McCandlish 


E. L. Taylor 


C. E. Engvick 


M. McCuRRIE 


A. W. Thomas 


C. J. Evans 


J. McEwiNG 


C. F. Volker 


R. E. Fisher 


W. A. Mitchell 


T. G. Whitaker 


G. H. FORMAN 


P. J. Mohr 


M. H. White 


E. Gerson 


L. B. O'Brien 


G. R. Williams 


W. E. Hague 


Wm. Olney 


A. Y. Wood 



GROUPS 

SEEDSMEN 
E. D. Chipman R. D. Holabird S. O. Johnson 

J. R. GWYNN R. M. HOTALING B. G. McDoUGALL 

E. D. Shortudge Otto Westerfeld 



R. I. Bentley, Jr. 
C. T. Beringer 
J. Black 

C. BORGESON 

E. Cameron 

F. A. Corbusier 



FLOWERS 

R. F. COYLE 
E. CULLINAN 

H. A. W. Dinning 
A. R. Fennimore 
P. K. Funke 
W. C. Hays 



G. HoTALING 

B. Marsh 
J. F. Sheehy 

R. J. SOMERS 

J. A. Thompson 

W. G. VOLKMANN 



R. I. Bentley, Jr. 
C, T, Beringer 
J. Black 
C. Borgeson 

E. Cameron 

F. W. Carey 

F. A. Corbusier 

R. F. CoYLE 

R. L. 



FRUITS 

F, B. Elkins 
J. F. English 
P. K. Funke 

J. R. GwYNN 

W. C. Hays 

G. HoTALING 
I. S. LiLLICK 

B. F. LuM 

White 



B. Marsh 

H. H. Miller 
W. H. Robinson 
J. F. Sheehy 
J. R. Sloan 

C. Taylor 
H. H. Taylor 
J. A. Thompson 

J. A. Young 



STAGE DIRECTOR 
MASTER OF LIGHTING 



Frank L. Mathieu 
Edward J. Duffey 



Ensembles of the Prelude, Interlude, and Finale 
devised and directed by Harris C. Allen 



CONDUCTOR 
CHORUS MASTER 
CONCERT MASTER 



Domenico Brescia 
Eugene Blanchard 
Arthur Argiewicz 



LIFE 

PROLOGUE 

A glade at the foot of a wooded hill shrouded in dark- 
ness. Musicis heard^ and the figure of the Sower is seen, 
su^used with lights high on the hillside. 

The Sower 
Now hear ye, O Life! I am the Sower, come to sow 

more life. 
I am the constant, the timeless. 
One little moment past, sowed I in the void — 
I sowed star dust. 

And from that misty seed, quick with life. 
The round earth shaped beneath me; 
Crag, valley, sea, mountain and vale. 
The new sphere swung to its appointed path. 

\^The humming of a distant chorus is heard from the 
darkness. 

Then sowed I other seed, so urgent 

That the dead earth pulsed to my tread 

With vine and flower and fruit. 

One little moment since and all these mighty growths, 

These purple pillars, draped in shadowy green. 

Were but seed, leaving my hand. 

Sowed I seed of milky fire mist, 

Ever more seed. 

And life spawned upon itself — 

[7] 



Swam, crawled, flew, walked upright, 
Then spoke! 

Voices {singing) 

Life spoke its fearful wonder in itself. 
Life come to its first dim knowledge of life; 
Finding it so good that it would rest upon itself. 
Now in this star-born glade it would rest evermore, 
Dreaming its last victory be won. 

But Thou, the Sower, timeless and constant. 

Now bring *st new seed to sow. 

New seeds of life unending, building ever upon itself. 

Thou art the never-ending, all-wanting, all-begetting; 

Thou the timeless, the constant, — so old — so young. 



The Sower 

Oh, I am old, yet ageless. 

Old as all time, young as this speeding instant. 

I, the unceasing sower. 

From this unbeginning ferment of star dust 

I have conjured seed, bud, blossom. 

Then the ripened fruit. 

And to what end the labor, 

The endless tortured cycle ? 

I know not. Even I, the Sower, know not; 

Save this: That from all agony and travail. 

From that heaped hand of star dust 

I spilled in the great void, 

I have brought Man. 

Man I hold as my reward! 

[8] 



A Voice {from the darkness) 

Poor little Man! 

So vast a fruit, so splendid, 

Yet so fearful of all beyond him! 

So glorious a coward; 

Poor little Man! 

Other Voices 

Now Man will worship and fear Thee, the Sower, 
As one beyond, who must know the secret. 
Yet even Thou must worship one still beyond 
Who will know the secret, the secret hid from Thee. 

The Sower 

From star dust to earth, 

From earth to Man, 

From Man to what shining consummation ? 

I know not — even I — 

Save this: that I must ever sow. 

And Man must ever dare new pain. 

I, the timeless one, the constant. 

All-wanting, all-begetting, 

I am worshipped as Creator, 

Yet know I only that I, myself, am creature, 

Even as Man; know only that our common fate is— 

wanting. 
I, too, would rest in still delight. 
Here in this star-born glade. 
But may not, from the goad 
Of still another sower. 
Beyond, invisible to me! 

[9] 



One law have I found, one law alone 

In all time's outflung maze: 

Man must want and ever want. 

Even as I, the Sower, must he become. 

All-wanting, all-begetting. 

Now must he ache with discontent. 

Even as that first eager star dust 

That would have no rest till it had wrought 

This earth to rounded beauty. 

Now must he throb with starved desire 

Even as throbbed the tiny seeds 

That could not still their pain till these great trees 

Searched out the stars! 

Lo, I call ye now, ye tireless sowers! 

Though it be curse, though it be gift benign, 

Come forth, ye tireless sowers. 

Sow ye the seed of Man's divine desire! 

\^The Seedsmen appear at the top of the trail below 
the Sower. One figure appears at first andy 
from a seed-basket^ flings silver particles into the 
light which now surrounds him. Another ap- 
pears on the path below and makes a similar 
gesture^ and so on down the hill. As they de- 
scend the hill the voices are again heard. 

Voices {singing) 

Now Man is come, finely fashioned, joyously wondering, 

savoring huge delights. 
He would rest content with stores drawn from his fruitful 

earth. 
In sloth of fed desire he would end the cycle, thwart the 

plan. 

[lo] 



And this he may not do. 

Nay, little Man, who would rest here, 

Safe from wanting, knowing not the law. 

Knowing not life's fevered pains and efforts. 

Nor yet its exaltations! 

We sow you here the quick imperious seed of discontent. 

You may no longer rest. 

Your curse — your gift — 

Be endless wanting, endless getting. 

You would end the cycle, thwart the plan. 

This you may not do! 

{fThe chorale concludes with the Seedsmen grouped 
upon the hillside. One of their number steps 
forward and scatters special seed down the bank 
where the Bush of Wanting is to grow. 

The Sower 
Now have I sown the quick hot seed of discontent, the old 

want, ever new. 
Now have I sown the seed of the old urge, ever young. 

[ T^he Bush of Wanting rises from the ferns of the 
bank. 

Behold the bush of wanting! See it rise from the 

quickened earth. 
Its fruit is red with lure of life; 
Its fruit is hot with imperious desire. 
Little earth-bred men, you shall mouth its heating fruit 
And you shall ache with all the want of your young 

world. 
Oh, you shall thrill to the first faint call 
Of strange old pains, of strange old joys. 
And find them strangely new. 
Delight and terror you shall know 



And torturing want shall bring you Life in its endless 

cycle. 
Come, little men, eat in new fear, 
Little men, born of earth. 
Little men who have not known woman! 

[T he fruit of the bush glows with light. 'The Seeds- 
men slowly withdraw^ their hands outstretched 
toward the glowing bush. 

Even now the fruit quickens. The urge that thrilled the 

very star dust hath arrogantly sped it. 
Come, little men who have not known woman, your 

other self awaits you — woman awaits you! 
The endless cycle of torture and ecstacy! 
Come, Life leaps to the call! 

[The Sower vanishes. 



[12] 



EPISODE I. 

[yf party of hunters assembles in the scene. They 
are armed with spearSy bowSy clubs. The men 
are rather youngs clad in skins ^ or rough stuffs of 
fibrCy woodsy looking. The chief only is old; 
he is faty gross ^ bearded. They bring a couple of 
deer and the carcass of some huge^ grotesque 
animal. On one side is seen the mouth of the 
tribal cave. The Tribesmen deposit their arms 
there. The slaughtered game is thrown down 
before the mouth of the cave and afire is lighted. 
Meat is cooked. They gather about the fire and 
eat hungrily. While the meat is cookings Jad 
starts up and stares intently at something across 
and a little up the hillside. His action is ob- 
served by TuLL. 

TULL 

What now ? What do you see ? 

Jad 
Look ! A strange bush has grown there since we left the 
cave at dawn. 

TuLL 
I see no bush. How could that be } 

Jad 

But look! At the foot of the bank. A strange new 
bush and it bears fruit — red fruit. 

[13] 



TULL 

Yes; now I see red fruit, and it was not there at dawn, 
nor did I ever see that bush with the long, pointed leaves. 
And it has thorns — great thorns that would stab. 

Jad 
Come, let us see it close. 

TuLL 

Be slow, now; touch it gently. Those thorns will stab; 
the very leaves are pointed. They'll prick. 

{They stand over the shrub. 

Jad 

But that fruit — the ripe, red fruit; see how it glistens, 
and how it swells with its own juice. It must be sweet to 
the taste. Come, we'll eat. 

\^He is about to pluck one of the fruits; Toll stays 
his arm. 

TuLL 

No, stay! See how the great thorns and the pointed 
leaves protect it. 

Jad {laughing) 

I have killed a tiger. Am I afraid of thorns and little 
pointed leaves ? 

\^He reaches again for the fruit; Tull stays his arm 
and draws him back a step from the bush. 

Tull 

No, you are not afraid of thorns and little points. But 
this is a strange bush. It is not as other bushes we know 

[14] 



that bear fruit. It grows in a day and bears ripe fruit. 
The fruits we know that are good must have months for 
their ripening. This may not be good. I remember a 
shiny, yellow fruit the tribe once ate — how it sickened and 
killed many. They burned with a fever and it killed them. 
This fruit may be Hke that, not meant for us to eat. Come 
away ; it may rot as quickly as it grew. Come ! We know 
enough fruits that do not kill ; we want no more. 

Jad 

But now I do want more. While I have stood here, even 
before I have touched it, a want for this fruit has come 
upon me like a little fever. Oh, I know it will have a rich 
taste in the mouth. I must have it. 

[//(? reaches for it but Tull again stays him. 

TULL 

But stay a little, then. Let us watch to see if the birds 
eat of it. See, no bird has yet touched it. No! No bird 
would touch it. The fruit is ripe to bursting, yet its skin 
has no scars from the beaks of birds. If it were good fruit 
the birds would have come to it. I do not think it is good. 
It is beautiful, but so was the other fruit that killed. This 
is even fairer; fairer than any fruit we know, and ripe to 
bursting. I think it must be bad. Yet we'll watch; if the 
birds should come to eat, then we'll know it may be good, 
— but all day no bird has come. That's bad! 

Jad 

Yes, it is a strange fruit, but it may not be bad. I think 
it must be good. I want it more than any other fruit. 
See! My hands creep toward it, though I do not make 
them; my lips open for it, my throat is dry for its juice. 

[■5] 



TuLL {trying to draw Jad back) 
But leave it now, and watch if the birds come. 

Jad {resisting) 

Yes, we'll watch if the birds come. But I'll pick one — 
just one. Not to eat, not to taste, but to hold here in my 
hand, {reaching for the fruit) We'll show it to the rest. 

TuLL 

Be careful! Careful of the great thorns! Careful of 
those pointed leaves! Death might be in their sting. 

Jad {reaching into the shrub) 

A thorn has scratched me. And the leaves have needle 
points. One has pricked me and brought a drop of blood, 
but see, here is a ripe fruit, {holding it up) Oh, it is hot 
in my fingers. I can feel the slow, rich juice coursing 
inside. It must be a good fruit sent to us by the Above- 
persons. There is another drop of blood on my wrist. 
This is a good fruit sent to us by the Above-persons and 
guarded by sharp points so that only we may take it. 

TuLL 

Not all fruit is sent to us by the Above-persons — 
remember the shiny yellow fruit that killed — 

Jad 

But I have a little fever for this; my throat is dry for 
the juice of it. My throat tightens for it. One little 
taste — this fruit has made me want it. 

TuLL 

No, no! The blood on your wrist comes again. That 
thorn pricked deep. Don't taste it yet. Wait for the 

[.6] 



birds. If the Above-persons have sent this fruit the birds 
will come to it. They eat the fruits we eat. Wait for the 
birds. Bring that one carefully and show to the rest. 
Here, let me take it — your hands go to your mouth with 
it. 

[TuLL takes the fruit from Jad, who follows him 
across to the fire. Jad looks back to the bushy 
leaving it reluctantly. The men are still eating 
meat voraciously. All look up as Jad and Tull 
approach. 

Tull {holding out the fruit) 
See, a strange new fruit! 

Jad 
A new fruit that makes me want it. I held it in my 
hand, not tasting it, and my throat snarled for it. I have 
not known so fierce a want even for meat at the end of a 
long hunt. It is like a new want. 

[Og, who has meat in each hand at which he alter- 
nately gnaws ^ rises. 

Og 
What's this of new wants .^ We want no new wants. A 
fruit, is it ? ■ 

\He stops eating and eyes the fruit as Tull extends it. 

Well, fruits may be good, though they are not meat for 
a man's teeth. They are poor things to bite. But this is 
a new fruit. I have seen none like it in all these great 
woods. Is it sweet ? 

Jad {quickly taking the fruit from Tull) 

We have not tasted. It is a new fruit. The bush was 

not there at dawn when we left the cave. Now it is full 

[■7] 



grown and thick-leaved, with great thorns, and the fruit 
hangs ripe. Here in my hand I feel its hot juice stir, I feel 
it run and burn, and all in this ten hours it has come to its 
growth — a strange fruit that leaves my mouth parched for 
it. I never wanted any other fruit; and this, even before 
I touched it, fired me with wanting. I felt a little fever 
for it. Now that I have touched it, and its needle-pointed 
leaves have brought my blood — now I have a big fever for 
it. Now I ache with wanting to mouth it. The Above- 
persons have sent it to us. 

Og {who has fallen to his meat again) 
Fruit is not meat — even fruit with a hot juice. Would 
it stay in the mouth and goad a man's teeth like this back- 
fat of a deer.^ I'd rather have even a strip of that deer's 
belly-fat than all the pretty fruit in these woods. 

\He eats again. 
Jad 
{still holding the fruity fingering it curiously) 

I know! I'm a man for meat myself; but this fruit 
draws me to it. See where its thorn scratched my flesh 
and its needle-pointed leaves have pricked me. Little 
wounds, but they have made me glow with a great fever. 
I am hot to eat this thing and I want no meat. I want this 
fruit; it is a new want — some strange new want that 
scratches in me. I want this fruit and I want more than 
this fruit — I want — I want — 

Og 

{throwing down one of the bones he has gnawed) 

Wants.'* Wants? New wants.'' I tell you, we want no 
new wants. Our wants are all met. We have but two. 
We want meat — we hunt it. We want sleep — we take it. 

[.8] 



What other wants could there be in all the world ? Another 
want would be evil. Our world is good without wants. If 
that fruit has made you want, then it is an evil fruit. 

TuLL {stepping forward) 

I told him that. It must be a poison fruit. Like that 
shiny yellow fruit our men once ate that sickened them 
and killed many till they learned to shun it. 

First Tribesman {from the fire) 

And like that herb some of us tasted in the big rains. 
We lost our good safe sense and some of us walked off a 
high rock and lay all broken at its foot. It was an evil 
herb. 

TuLL 

And this must be an evil fruit. How could a good fruit 
grow in one day. The good fruits that are sent by the 
Above-persons, we know them — they are slow to grow, 
and the birds eat them with us. This fruit the birds have 
shunned. 

Jad 

Still, it burns now in my hand, its juice runs alive to my 
touch. I tell you it makes me want strange new wants and 
most of all it makes me want to taste, to eat itself. I 
want — 

Og 

Our old wants are enough. We want meat; we want 
sleep. 

First Tribesman 

Yes, it must be like that herb we tasted that made some 
of us walk and fall from the high rock. It has put a fever 
on Jad. 

[19] 



Og 

It's an evil fruit if it makes him want more than meat 
and sleep, {to Jad) Throw it away, {as J ad hesitates) 
Throw it away — throw it from you. 

Jad 

But it holds me. My hand cannot throw it. My throat 
tightens for it. 

\^Raises fruit to his mouth. 

Og {horrified) 
Throw it! 

TULL 

Throw it! 

\^He seizes J ad's arm and tries to take the fruit from 
him. There is a slight struggle. Tull gets the 
fruit and hurls it into the forest. The tribesmen 
have risen from the ground to watch. Jad stands 
as if dazed, regarding his empty hand. 

Tull {to Og) 

Master, I saved him from tasting that evil fruit, but 
when our hands clenched we crushed it. The juice ran 
between our fingers. It was hot and living, as he said. 
See, it stains my hand, it burns — it burns. 

Og {turning to the fire for more meat) 

We'll have no fruit that makes new wants. We want 
meat, we want sleep. We have them. How if some fruit 
gave us a want we could not satisfy ? That would be evil. 

Tull 
He would have eaten of the fruit, and I saved him from 

[20] 



it. But the fruit was crushed and the juice burns on my 
hand. 

[//<? shows his hand to Og, continuing to explain this 
to him. 

Jad {who has withdrawn a little) 

The fruit is gone, but here on my hand is the wet, hot 
juice. It burns. And my mouth is parched for one drop 
of it. I think one little drop would satisfy. 

\He lifts his hand cautiously to his face^ sniffs at it, 
then eagerly puts forefinger and thumb to his 
lips. He seems to drink. 

There, I have tasted the hot red juice. It is not evil; 
it is good. It is soft and sweet in my throat. But I still 
want. I want more of that hot fruit. It is not an evil 
fruit. It is not evil to want the fruit when the fruit is 
there to satisfy it. I shall eat of it; I shall eat and eat of it. 
[ Unobserved by the others he crosses furtively to where 
the strange bush grows and disappears just be- 
hind it. TuLL has withdrawn from Og and the 
others, who have fallen again to their meat. 

TuLL 
It is hot, that juice; it burns on my hand. Not as a fire 
burns — it is not like a fire I would snatch my hand from. 
It is a soft, sweet burn. And now my mouth is parched 
for one drop of that juice still wet there. I am afraid of it, 
yet all athirst. My throat chokes for it. Would one drop 
cure me of this burning ? 

\Glances around and sees the others busy with their 
meat. He raises his hand cautiously to his face, 
sniffs at it, seems to drink eagerly and then 
lowers his hand quickly. 

[21] 



There, my thirst is gone, and gone pleasantly. It was 
good, that juice. One little drop to satisfyso great a thirst. 
Yes, it no longer burns on my hand and my thirst is gone. 

[^He pauses and his mouth works. 

Yet, is my thirst quite gone? I could drink another 
drop of that juice, I think. I have only a little thirst, but 
I want more thirst. That is strange. To want more 
thirst. I want more thirst and I want more juice to 
quench it. Perhaps that is the evil of this fruit, to make 
us want more and more. But how can that want be evil 
when there is so much of the fruit .^ If I went now and 
took another fruit from the bush — or if I searched for the 
one we crushed on our hands.'' No, no! I must not do 
that. It is an evil fruit and I saved Jad from tasting it. I 
would be a fool to taste it myself. If I went alone to that 
bush there would be no one to save me. I am thirsting, 
but I will not drink. I am afraid. I am afraid of too much 
wanting. I will eat meat instead and forget the other 
wanting. 

\^He approaches the fire yWhere a few men still gnaw at 
bones. Others rest^ half asleep. Og, on his 
haunches y is one of the last eaters. He is quitting 
regretfully. Tull takes up a piece of meat but 
has not his old appetite for it. From time to 
time he studies the hand that caught the juice of 
the strange fruit. Occasionally he sniffs at it. 
He eats but a few mouthfuls of the meat and 
these without relish. Voices are heard singing 
a Sleep Song^ a sort of evening hymn. The 
tribesmen s last want has been satisfied. They go 
slowly into the cave as the song dies away. Tull 
who has been squatting by the fire^ is the last to 
go. At the mouth of the cave he pauses^ sniffs 



at his hand and looks longingly over at the strange 
bush. 

TULL 

I want more, but oh, I am afraid to want. It is evil to 
want. 

\He goes quickly into the cave. 'T'he songy gently pro- 
longed, at last ends. The scene has become dark 
gradually from the time Jad disappeared. Now 
moonlight floods it. Jad enters by the strange 
bush where he went off. He comes in furtively , 
half crouching, until he sees that the place is 
empty. 'Then he straightens up and bites into 
one of the strange fruits. He eats meditatively, 
then tosses the remnant away. 

Jad 

How its juice runs hot in my veins! Again and again I 
have eaten and still I am left wanting. What stuff is it 
to do that ? Evil perhaps, as they said, yet it has brought 
me no evil. Unless to want more and more of it be evil. 
But it has brought me some strange new life, and life is 
not evil. Some strange new life it has brought me and my 
body is swollen with wanting more life. What has it 
brought me, this juice that throbs and burns .^ Now all 
at once it seems I have become more than myself. 

I am Jad, the one that hunted yesterday and brought 
down the deer with an arrow in its flank. But it seems I 
am still another self; another one of me is round about — 
I hear soft steps, little whisperings, new sounds in these 
woods. Og would say I am a fool, but I want that other 
self; want it as never I wanted meat after the longest 
day's hunt. The juice of that fruit has made me alive 
with wanting — but what do I want? — not more of the 
fruit. It is a bigger want, a terrible want. 

[23] 



And I am wondering strange wonders. There is the 
moon I have seen so many nights without wonder — 
knowing when it comes to its full, and when it dries to a 
tiny shred — and now it has become a golden mystery, for 
all at once I must know how it comes there deep in the 
sky. I must know what hands throw it over the clouds; 
I must touch those hands, though they be the very hands 
of the Above-persons whom we may not see. 

And this earth my feet are set upon. Now I am cursed 
for the first time with wonder of its secret. How came it 
to be earth and how came I to tread it.'' How came my 
fellows there that sleep away their meat.'' How came 
those seven stars to the sky's center .'' 

Then this must be the evil of that fruit, to set me on a 
fool's blind trail of wondering, of wanting. All things are 
wonder to me now and I am but a want, an endless ache 
for more and more — of what? Then Og was right. It 
has made a fool of me, that fruit. To want and not know 
what I want. Before I ate of it I knew. I knew I wanted 
meat. I knew I wanted sleep. Now I know only that I 
want to know. With this dread urge in my blood can I 
ever want sleep again — that little death of the night.'' I 
want to know, I want to see, I want to feel — what.'* All — 
now I want all — all! 

Most of all I want this other self of mine; it lurks here, 
it lurks there; it is above me, all about. I sense it here in 
these shadows; I hear soft footfalls. I want, I want, I must 
have. A fool that fruit has made me, but a real fool; I am 
no shadow, and my want is no shadow of a want — that 
other self of mine; it is warm and near me, I all but clutch 
it. 

Oh, other self of mine, I cannot see you, yet I know you 
are here; I cannot see you, yet I feel your warm Stirling. 
And the very force of this want in me shall draw you to 

[24] 



me— from where? From these woodland shadows, from 
the sharp-starred sky ? Are you made like me, of earth, or 
made of moonbeams? I wonder, in this fierce longing of 
wonder. But come you must. This want in me shall com- 
pel you from the shadows that hide you. I want you— 
I call you — 

iHe has knelt below a banky his arms aloft in sup- 
plication. A brilliant ray of light now reveals 
above him a Woman looking down at him. 

Jad {awed) 
My other self, you come! My want has brought you. 
Oh, you are beautiful. Your hair has the moon's gold, 
your brows are the spread wings of an eagle, your eyes the 
farthest blue of the sky between white clouds! You are 
me, yet not me. Now I wonder more than of the moon 
and my sleeping fellows. And now that dread juice burns 
anew in me until my flesh must burst with wanting— I 
want — I want — 

{He now springs up as if to clasp the Woman but she 
vanishes. He turning away from the bank dis- 
consolately. 

Jad 

My other self was melted back to moonbeams by the 
heat of my wanting. Not of earth was it, as I am, but 
moonbeams all. And I have lost it. But the want still 
burns. It will not be denied. Ah! {in sudden fear) 
But it may have been an Above-person whom we are not 
meant_ to see. We know they are here; we see them in the 
trees, in the sun, and hear them in falling water, but we 
may not see their bodies. How if that fruit has opened 
my eyes to them. It must be so. It was not my other 
self; it was not of earth as I am. It was an Above-person. 



And will it come again ? Oh, it must! I call it — my want 
calls it. Come, Oh come! Ah! 

[^The Woman again appears at the margin of a pool 
and Jad crouches behind a tree to watch. 

Jad 
An Above-person — an Above-person — brought by my 
great want from these trees and the running water and the 
far blue sky. And I must worship and want here from 
this distance or my vision will fade again to moonbeams. 
But no — look! 

\T'he Woman has leaned over to regard herself in the 
poolj she touches her hair and rearranges a 
wreath of flowers on her head. 

Jad 
So! {understanding) Then it is not an Above-person. 
There is earth in its making as sure as I am of earth. I 
have leant above that pcol to see my own staring face. An 
Above-person would not do that. Then it is my other self 
— not all of moonbeams, but being earth as well. Now 
wait! 

\He cautiously makes his way toward the pool. The 
Woman looks up from the water y startled ^ then 
reassured as she sees only her own reflection. 
She does not detect Jad. He crawls nearer. The 
Woman preens herself in the pool. Jad at last 
comes to the margin of the pool opposite to her. 
She sees his reflection and darts up the path. He 
quickly intercepts her and clasps her in his arms. 
They struggle briefly. 

Jad {laughing in triumph) 
Now, my other self — do you not know me? {more 

[26] 



softly) Let me look at you. {forcing up her face) But 
you are all of beauty; all of beauty in the earth and in the 
sky. I think you are more beautiful than any Above- 
person. And you are my other self, called out of these 
shadows by the want that burns in me. Earth and sky! 
For you are of the earth as I am. This is firm flesh I touch. 
Yet you have much of the lightness of the sky that I have 
not. You are mine— my other self— come! 

\He would draw her away from the pool, but the 
Woman struggles again and all but frees herself. 
This struggle is longer, fiercer than the first. J ad 
finally masters her and her struggles cease. 

Jad 
But this is evil. I have bruised the tender flesh of my 
other self. I have done evil to me from the heat of that 
wanton fruit. Now I could weep for that. See, my other 
self! I would not hold you so. You are free as a cloud in 
the sky. Now go quickly— back to your whispering 
shadows. I am too much of earth to hold you, 

{He steps back and then kneels, his head bowed. 

I touched but the earth of you ; the sky I could not gain. 
But oh, the want that still runs in my blood! Oh, this 
wonder of wanting! Go while you are still a flower of all 
perfumes. Go before my wild arms crush you. Go! 

{He looks up after a pause. The Woman stands 
drooping, submissive. 

Jad 
But I tell you go— back to your sky, your moon- 
beams, your sweet whispering shadows. I am afraid. 

{The ^ OMAN extends one hand in the least gesture of 
invitation. 

[^7] 



Jad {with a glad cry) 
Ah! 

\^He seizes the extended hand while still on his knees. 
He rises to his feet. The Woman droops to him. 
With his arm about her they go slowly up the 
lower hillside and disappear among the trees as 
darkness Jails. 



[28] 



INTERLUDE 

[The figure of the Sower again appears, suffused 
with light, high on the hillside. 

The Sower 

Now the sleeping seed of life has wakened, 

Now the earth-breed must want or perish. 

So spin, little earth — 

Whirl in your dance for a year. 

While life remembers itself 

In the loins of the man and the woman. 

Spin for a year, little earth, 

While blossoms fade and the fruit ripens. 

Spin for a year while the earth-breed 

Wonders and fears and dies. 

Voices {singing) 

Now Man is caught in the infinite mesh; 
Caught by kindling desire. 

The Sower 

But he who has dared will suffer; 
He will joy and die. 
And live again— live in his own flesh. 
Spin for a year, little earth! 
You shall have a new breed. 
Fashioned for brave wanting — 
All-wanting, all-begetting, 
Its end to be endless. 

[29] 



Voices {singing) 

He who has dared shall suffer; 

He shall joy and die and live again! 

A Voice {singing) 

Is it a scourge ? Answer, thou mighty one, 
Sower of star dust shining; is it a scourge? 

Other Voices {singing) 

He knows not, even He, the timeless one, the constant. 
He knows not, even He! 

A Second Voice {singing) 

Is it a benison ? Answer, thou mighty one. 
Sower of milky fire mist; is it a benison? 

Other Voices {singing) 

He knows not, even He, the timeless one, the constant. 
He knows not, even He! 

A Third Voice {singing) 

Is it a curse or gift divine ? Answer, thou mighty one. 
Sower of life unending; is it a curse or gift divine? 

Other Voices {singing) 

He knows not, even He, the timeless one, the constant. 

He only knows that endless wanting is the end! 

He sows the seed as sow he must. 

And Man shall reap, with anguished hands. 

As reap he must. 

Such is the cunning of the plan; 

So has it been from unremembered chaos. 

So shall it be through the ever-widening spiral 

Of infinity! 

[30] 



The Sower 
It is the season of life's flowering; 
Once thrall to sloth, man has become 
All-wanting, all-begetting. 
Life flowers— buds and blossoms 
Into other life. 
Let flowers attend the consummation! 

[Flowers spring from the ferns upon the hillside and 
descend the hillside with rhythmical movements. 

A Voice 
Life buds and blossoms into other life! 
Spin, spin, spin, little earth. 
Whirl in your dance for a year 
While life remembers itself 
In the loins of the man and the woman. 
Spin for a year, little earth. 
While blossoms fade and the fruit ripens, 
Spin for a year while the earth-breed 
Wonders and joys and dies! 

{fthe Flowers and the Sower vanish and darkness 
falls. 



[31] 



EPISODE II 

'The scene gradually lightens to early dawn. 

[TuLL enters from the cave. 

TULL 

A year that evil fruit has left its sting in my throat — 
the sting of a great wanting. A year have I fought the 
thirst for its juice. It burns still on my hand, as if a hot 
spear had branded it, and the call is always in my throat. 
I have fought the want through long nights. It has kept 
sleep from me; the little death that comes to us in the 
night has not come to me. That wanting has kept the 
little death from me that would have made me strong for 
the day's hunt. Yet I have fought it. But have I been a 
coward for fighting it.^ Was not Jad braver.^ He was 
seen to eat, then he was seen no more. For a year we have 
not seen him. Should I not have been brave to eat with 
him ? — I might have saved him from what evil he went to. 
Perhaps I have been a coward. This whole year I have 
not dared go near the bush, lest the sight of its fruit in- 
flame me as it once did. Perhaps I should have been 
brave, as Jad was. Perhaps the fruit brought new wants 
that he has satisfied away from us. 

Now the wanting is on me as it was that night a year 
ago when I drank one drop of the juice. I will be a coward 
no longer. At least I will look again upon the fruit. I 
may even touch its hot surface — though I may not eat. 
Surely that would be foolish, for it must be an evil fruit. 
But I will look, maybe touch — 

[3^] 



[//<? approaches the bush and stands above ity timidly. 

It must be an evil fruit — yet perhaps I am a coward. 
At least I may touch its shining surface. 

\^He reaches into the bush^ then draws back, 

A thorn has scratched me, a leaf has pricked me. There 
is a drop of blood. It burns me through. Am I a coward '^. 
No; I will still reach to touch one. 

\He reaches into bush and draws back with a fruit 
in his hand. 

Ah ! {with alarm) It was over-ripe and fell into my open 
hand at the first touch. How warm it is, and I feel the 
live juice coursing within. But it was over-ripe — the 
skin has broken and there are drops of juice on my hand. 
Again that juice burns and makes me thirst for its sweet- 
ness. Now I am afraid. I am a coward, not brave as Jad 
was, who ate bravely and went away. I would not be that 
brave perhaps; only fools are too brave. Yet, if I tasted 
but this drop that runs like fire on my hand ? Yes, I will 
be brave as that; I will taste this little drop, then throw the 
fruit away. 

\He puts the hand to his mouth. 

But the fire of it runs through me, and the fire from that 
pricking of the leaf and that scratching of the thorn. Now 
I must have more. That drop was not enough. I am 
afraid, but I am brave, too. Yes, I must eat. {biting into 
the fruit) Am I a fool ? At least I am not a coward. I am 
brave as Jad was; I have eaten as he was seen to. {eating) 
But it is good, this fruit. It leaves a wondrous wanting 
in the mouth, a wondrous wanting in the whole body. Its 
hot juice is sweet on the tongue and leaves me all-wanting. 
Strange fruit! I no longer want sleep, our little death. I 

{32^ 



want more than sleep — but what is it I want ? That juice 
burns in me, a living flame. Is it life I want — more life ? 
Yes, and more than that. Each second I feel the want 
more urgently. It is myself I want — more of myself — 
yet how can I want so foolish a thing — how could it 
come to me? But I want it. I want — I want — 

\_fVhile TuLL is speaking Jad and the Woman enter 
on the hillside. Jad is now dressed in lighter 
garments, something in the fashion of the Woman. 
They are garlanded with flowers. Jad's arm is 
about the Woman. As he first discovers them, 
TuLL crouches to watch. 

TuLL 

Ah! {with understanding) Now I see what it is that 
fruit has made we want. Now it is all plain. That is the 
more of myself that my body cries out for — that is the 
answer to my want. I have eaten a fruit of great wanting 
and its fulfillment comes all in a moment. And Jad, the 
brave one, Jad is bringing my want to me. That is good 
of Jad, but I, too, am brave, and Jad holds my want under 
his arm when my own arm cries out to enfold it. He, too, 
has eaten the fruit of wanting. But my want is greater 
than his; my want is greater than all the wanting of the 
world. He does not know this; he will give me my want 
when I tell him. 

[Jad and the Woman have come well down the hill. 
TuLL springs forward from shadow into the light 
to confront them. Jad steps forward to meet him; 
the Woman drops back a little. 

TuLL 
Jad! After a whole year you have come back. You 
have brought my want. 

[34] 



Jad 

But I have brought my want — not yours. 

TULL 

Mine! Mine! — to meet this dread new want the fruit 
has put upon me. 

l^His eyes are on the Woman ; he ignores Jad. As he 
would approach her with arms extended^ Jad 
stays him, 

Jad 

Not yours, I tell you. Mine; doubly mine; my other 
self I found a year ago. 

TuLL 

Mine! You are a fool not to know this is mine. A 
world of wanting cries out in me. Let me take — 

Jad 

But mine! So much mine now the whole world could 
not part us — mine, my other self! 

\frhey struggle y each protesting. The struggle grows 
more intense. The Woman watches y frightened. 
TuLL kills Jad. He throws the body from him 
and stands horrified. The Woman approaches 
and kneels above the body of^ADy her hand on his 
breast. She screams once^ then leaps to her feet 
and darts up the trail into the forest. The 
Woman's scream arouses the sleepers in the cave^ 
who rush out, rubbing the sleep from their eyes. 
They see the body of Jad, Tull standing over ity 
and gather about. Og is almost the last to come. 
He pushes through the group and sees the body 
of Jad. 

[3S] 



Og {to Tull) 
Dead ? One of us slain like a deer ? And it's Jad, come 
back after so long a time. Has a tiger gone here ? 

Tull 

Oh, how can I tell it ? A tiger has gone here, but I was 
that tiger. This arm struck him down. 

Og {puzzled) 
You struck him down? A chance blow? What game 
were you playing? 

Tull 
It was no game. I think it was life, new life that has 
come to trouble us here. It was no chance blow. I struck 
to kill. 

Og 

How could you wish to kill ? He was your friend. Does 
friend kill friend ? Last year you were friend of his. You 
took the strange fruit from his hand when he would have 
eaten. 

Tull 
The strange fruit, the evil fruit, that made me kill my 
friend. You remember? That fruit was crushed in our 
hands when I took it from him. Its juice burned me. I 
could not sleep. For a year our little death of each night 
has hardly come to rest me. It was the evil fruit that did 
it. I drank one drop of the juice that stayed on my hand — 
then for a year I fought the want for more of it. This 
morning I could fight the want no longer. I came for 
more. I ate of the fruit and did this. 

First Tribesman 
Then it was evil like that herb that made our people run 

[36] 



off the high place when they had eaten it. This fruit will 
make us kill. 



Og {fo Tull) 



Was it so ? 



Tull 
This fruit, when I ate more of it, brought wanting, a 
horror of wanting — I wanted — I wanted — 

Og 
You wanted more meat — more sleep? 

Tull 
I wanted more than meat, more than sleep. Meat and 
sleep became all at once such very little wants — I forgot 
them. 

Og 
What more is there to want but meat and sleep ? You 
could want more meat and more sleep, but surely nothing 
else. 

Tull 

I wanted more life. I know it was a strange, a foolish 
want, but I wanted more life. I was stung with wanting 
and did not know what it was I wanted until I saw Jad, 
my friend. He had it — he had what I wanted — more life. 

Og 
More meat ? More sleep ? 

Tull 
More life. I have told you. He had it there within his 
arm; another life; and it was my other life. I knew it was 
mine, but he was a fool; he would have kept it from me — 
he said it was his other life; but I was brave. 

[37] 



Og 

His other life, jyowr other Hfe ? You are the fool, crazed 
with that evil fruit. 

TULL 

He brought Sinoth&r person — I told him it was mine. 

Og 

Another person — one of us? 

TuLL 
Not one of us. A person fair and smooth and wondrous. 

Second Tribesman 

Crazed by the fruit, as our people were when they ran 
off the high place. 

TuLL 

Another person not of us, I tell you; fair and smooth 
and wondrous with a new beauty we have never known, a 
beauty to make us want, to make us long, to make us kill 
— even our friend. 

Second Tribesman 
Crazed — crazed. 

Og {angrily) 

There are no persons but us and the Above-persons 
whom we may not see. There are no persons fair and 
smooth and wondrous, with a beauty to make us want and 
kill. There is only meat and sleep and us. There are no 
persons — 

[TuLL, looking up J sees the figure of the Woman, 
who has lingered at the top of the trail. 

[38] 



TULL 

There, look! 

\^All turn. 

There! Now eat of that hot fruit as I did and you will 
know that new life has come to us — more than meat and 
sleep. We cannot fight against this new life. Again I am 
wanting as when I struck Jad. 

\^Three or four other figures of women are seen^ 
flitting across the upper trail. Tull starts 
quickly upy the women vanish. He stops. 

Og 

Those must be evil ones. They cause us to kill. We 

shall kill them. Quick — go with your arrows, your spears. 

\^The Second, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and 

Tenth Tribesmen take bows and arrows and 

go quickly up the hilly disappearing where the 

women were last seen. Tull comes down. 

Tull {bitterly) 
They will find nothing. They have not eaten the fruit. 

Og 
The evil fruit that caused you to kill. 

[The Eleventh and Twelfth Tribesmen carry 
away the body of Jad. Tull would follow it. 
Og keeps him. 

Og 

See him who has killed his friend; his lost friend who 
came back. He had been lost for a year and his coming 
should have made us glad. Yet Tull killed him as if he 
had been a creature for meat. 

[39] 



First Tribesman 
We should kill TuU! 

Third Tribesman 

Kill Tull or he will kill us! 

\^They threaten Tull. 

Tull 

It was the strange fruit made me do it — the fruit we 
we have seen for a year. If I had not eaten that fruit the 
coming of Jad would have made me happy. 

Og 

I warned you. I warned all of you to shun this evil 
fruit. No one should want more than meat and sleep. 

Tull 

There was juice on my hand when I took it from Jad. 
It burned me and I drank little drops from my fingers. 
Then it burned in my throat. All the year it burned. I 
could no longer stay my hands from touching that fruit, 
nor my lips from tasting it. 

Third Tribesman 

We, too, have wanted that fruit. We wanted it each 
time we passed near it — yet we were strong; we obeyed 
Og. 

Tull 

I think you were not strong; you were weak. You were 
cowards, afraid to taste. And you had not touched it as I 
had, to save a friend from tasting it. The juice had not 
burned your fingers, nor run hot on your lips. 

[40] 



Fourth Tribesman 

We would not have killed Jad even if we had eaten that 
fruit. Jad was our friend. 

First Tribesman 
We should kill Tull! 

TULL 

I did not want to kill Jad, but he kept this other person 
from me — the fair, smooth, wondrous person that my 
arms wanted. That fruit gave me a fierce want, like the 
want of a tiger. It made me want more life. It made me 
kill Jad. I would have killed you all — all of you, I say, 
if you had kept that other person from me. The fruit 
made me brave for any killing. 

First Tribesman 
We must kill Tull. 

Tull 

I am brave, now. I would rather die wanting than live 
only for meat and sleep. I want that Above-person. 

Fourth Tribesman 
We must kill that Above-person. 

Og 

But first we should kill the bush that bears this evil 
fruit. Do you not see, you fools! The bad wanting 
springs first from that fruit. We shall kill the bush, then 
we shall kill the Above-person, then perhaps we shall kill 
Tull. 

Third Tribesman 
Og is right. Let us kill the bush, then the Above-person 
that brings evil among us — then perhaps we may kill Tull. 

[41] 



Og 

If the bush be killed and the fair person be killed, then 
it may be Tull can live. It may be this sickness will leave 
him; it may be he will again want only meat and sleep. 

Tull 
Who would be a sleeping bear if he could be tiger ? I 
do not want this sickness to leave me. For a year it did 
not leave me, even though I had drunk but one little drop 
of that juice. Then I was brave and ate of it freely. Now 
this sickness of wanting will never leave me. You are 
fools to talk so who have not even touched it. What do 
you know of wanting who have never felt its richness ? 
Taste but one little drop, then meat and sleep will be your 
smallest wants. You will want more life, want more 
wants, and you will kill for them as I did if any would keep 
you from them. You will be tigers to kill. Friend will 
kill friend. This fruit will bring wanting and wanting will 
bring the Above-person — then you will be brave to kill. 

First Tribesman {threateningly) 
Tull is still sick and will kill. He will never be well. We 
should kill Tull. 

Tull 
I would rather die wanting than sleep like a bear with 
his belly full of meat. I would kill more than Jad for that 
Above-person. Eat of that fruit if you would know a new 
joy in killing. Eat and become tigers for killing — I would 
kill you all — 

\T!he 'Tribesmen advance threateningly on Tull. 
Og stays them. 

Og 

This is the talk of a sick man. Tull is still sick. And 

[4^] 



that fruit is our danger. How if we all ate and all sickened ? 
We should all be tigers for killing. We must first kill the 
fruit, then the Above-person who comes to the fruit's 
call- 

FiRST Tribesman 
ThenTull! 

Og 

Then Tull, it may be — but not until then. First the 
fruit before it sickens others of you. Now go — uproot it, 
burn it. Kill it before others of you are sickened and say 
foolishly that meat and sleep are not all of life. Kill it 
quickly! 

\^T/ie Fifth and Sixth Tribesmen sfay to guard 
Tull. Others go to the first bush from which 
Jad and Tull ate. Some uproot this with their 
spears. Others point to new bushes that have 
sprung up and go to them. 'These men discover 
still other bushes and point them out to Og, who 
has followed to watch. They work fiercely . The 
Eleventh and Twelfth Tribesmen now 
join them. Then one of them has been pricked 
by the thorns ^ and another^ the First Tribes- 
man, has crushed a ripe fruit in his hands. He 
shows terror at firsts but a moment later puts his 
hand to his lips. 

First Tribesman 
It burns! 

Tull {laughing) 

It will never stop burning. It will burn till you kill — 
it will burn till wanting makes you kill. 

[43] 



[^T/ie First Tribesman runs up the trail where the 
Woman was last seen. The man who was pricked 
by a thorn of the bush now seizes a ripe fruity 
bites into it and he^ toOy runs up the trail. 

TuLL {taunti7jgly) 
Now you will all go to find the Above-persons — now 
you will all kill — now you will all be tigers as I told you. 
[yf second man^ who has tasted the fruity runs up the 
hilly then a third. 

Third Tribesman {to Og, terrified) 
Master, see! We destroyed that bush. Now two bushes 
like it have sprung up under our hands, and their fruit is 
already ripe. Good fruit, it seems! Oh, tempting! 

Eleventh Tribesman 
Master, I am afraid! It is the same here. Two bushes 
come when we have killed one, and their fruit ripens. 

Twelfth Tribesman 
Their thorns have put fire in me. I want as Tull 
wanted. 

Third Tribesman 
The juice burns on my hand where I crushed a fruit. 
My lips ache for it. I must — 

\He tastes the fruit greedily. 

Tull {tauntingly) 
Now you will all be sick to kill, or the very want will 
killjyou. Youjcowards who have tasted by chance — are 
you not all wanting.'' Will meat and sleep now satisfy 
you.'' Are you still drowsy bears — or tigers leaping to 
kill? 

[44] 



^Several Tribesmen speak from different spots where 
they have been trying to kill the bushes. 

Eleventh Tribesman 
Meat and sleep are little wants. We want more life! 

Twelfth Tribesman 
Tull was right. We were bears — now we are tigers! 

Third Tribesman 
Tull should not be killed for wanting. 

Eleventh Tribesman 

We want more life — more life! 

\frhe Eleventh and Twelfth Tribesmen start 
quickly up the trail. Tull laughs mockingly. 
He would then follow them^ but is restrained by 
his guards y who have not been near the fruit. 

Og {in great alarm) 

An evil fruit, an evil fruit — to make us want more than 
meat and sleep. This is an evil sickness of wanting. 

\fThe Third Tribesman at work is seen to taste the 
fruit furtively y then flee up the trail. Tull 
laughs again. Og calls the Tribesmen back but 
they do not heed him. 

Og {desperately) 

We cannot kill the bush. But we can kill Tull, then we 
will follow these sick ones and kill them all. We must kill 
the sick ones. 

\Crtes of ^^ TeSy kill Tull now!" " Tull is more sick 
than any:' " Kill Tull!'' 

[45] 



Og 
We shall kill Tull. 

[Og approaches him with knife drawn. 

Tull {laughing) 
When you have eaten that fruit you are not afraid to 
die — you are only afraid of not wanting more than meat 
and sleep. I would rather die wanting than live without 
big wants. Kill, old Bear! I am not afraid. 

[He presents his breast to the knife. Og is about to 
strike when a shout is heard from the distance. 
The Second Tribesman runs in. 

A Tribesman 

Master, we have caught the fair person, the Above- 
person. It came to where the body of Jad lay on the burn- 
ing pile. We have caught the evil person who caused Tull 
to kill. 

Tull 
You shall not touch that person ! 

[Shouts are heard. The Seventh and Eighth 
Tribesmen bring on the Woman between them. 
They are followed by the Ninth and Tenth 
Tribesmen. They bring the Woman down to 
Og. She is a little frightened and struggles^ 
although not frantically. She is perhaps more 
dismayed than frightened. 

Seventh Tribesman 

We found the fair person weeping above the body of 
Jad, calling his name, fondling his dead face. 

[Tull starts forward with a cry^ but is restrained by 
his guards. Those who have been working at 

[46] 



the bushes come down. Cries of {as they come 
down) '' Kill themr '' Kill tulir '' Kill the 
fair person l'^ 

Og 

The bushes grow faster than we can kill them. We 
shall kill this Above-person who made Tull kill his friend. 

TuLL {struggling with his guards^ 
Taste the fruit, you fools! Taste the fruit. Here is a 
new life, a new world before you and you are blind to it. 
Taste the fruit and you will know. Taste the fruit and 
you will want as I want. 

Fifth Tribesman 
Tull is sick and would kill us. 

Sixth Tribesman 
Tull shall be killed. 

Og 

First we shall kill this Above-person. 

\He recovers his knife y which he had dropped when the 
Woman was brought on. While he is doing this 
Tull breaks from his guards, runs to the Woman, 
still held by two men, and kneels before her. 

Tull {to the woman) 
O wondrous Above-person! They do not know, they 
do not know! They have not eaten of the fruit as I ate. 
They are cowards and blind. You are all the world of 
beauty, all the world of wanting, all the world of joy. And 
they do not know. Only I know, whom the red fruit made 
alive to you. They will kill you, then they will kill me. 
That is good. I would not live after they killed you. I 
will die wanting. It will be a glad death. Jad's death was 

[47] 



a glad death. I see that now. Jad, too, died wanting. It 
is good to die wanting — better than to live without wants 
as these blind creatures live. And soon they will know. 
New life has come to us. The fruit of wanting cannot be 
killed. They will eat and they will know. You who have 
brought new life — you will understand. You will know 
why I killed Jad, my friend; you will know why these 
blind ones kill you and kill me. We shall go, but the great 
want shall live. New life has come! 

[Tull's guards drag him back from before theWoM an. 
She has looked down at him as he spoke ^ puzzled^ 
dismayed^ but kindly and not frightened. Nor 
is she frightened when Og approaches her with 
knife uplifted. She seems to know that nothing 
can harm her. 

Og 

Enough! We must kill to save ourselves. 

\He approaches the Woman and the knife is poised 
above her to strike. Loud shouts from above and 
down the trail from those who tasted the fruit and 
fled. Other women are seen back of them. A 
group of four men in the lead bear aloft the child 
of Jad and the Woman, with glad shouts. Og 
drops his knife and stares in bewilderment as the 
child is brought down. The other women in view 
do not come down but linger at the top of the 
trail. TuLL breaks from his guards and runs 
forward to meet the men with the child. 

First Tribesman 
More life! New life! Jad! Jad has come back! 

[48] 



TULL 

Jad! 

[//<? looks closely at the child. 

TuLL 

Yes, it is Jad, made small. His eyes, his mouth, the 
face of Jad, so small. 

\^he Woman runs to child and takes it in her arms. 

TuLL {kneeling before the Woman) 
The fruit of wanting! It took Jad from us, it made me 
kill him. Now it has brought Jad back. Jad has come 
again in his own flesh! 

Second Tribesman 
Jad in his own flesh! 

Third Tribesman 

Jad lives again through the Above-person. We shall 
not kill the Above-person. 

All 
We shall not kill. 

TuLL {pointing up the trail) 

There are other Above-persons. We shall all live again ; 
we shall become little and grow large, and we shall want, 
always we shall want. We shall have more life and life 
without end in this fruit of wanting. See, those who have 
eaten the fruit have found other Above-persons — they 
will live again in httle. 

[He points up to where some of the men have found 
other women. The women, instead of coming 
down, are leading the men up the trail. 

[49] 



Og 
But this is evil! We want no new wants! 

TULL 

Do you still sleep, when Jad whom I slew has come 
again? Here! 

[^He seizes a branch of one of the bushes bearing fruit, 
Taking a fruit from it forces it on Og, crush- 
ing it in his hands. 

Now, drowsy one, awaken, awaken to this new life of 
wanting. Do you still want but meat and sleep? 

\fdQsniffs at his hand^ then tastes the juice of the fruit. 
He looks about him dazed. 

Og 

But I want more; I strangely want more than meat and 
sleep. I am sick like Tull. Come, we want new life — 
we shall not kill. We want new wants. We shall live 
again in these little men, and grow and grow! 

\He starts up the trail where those above have found 
other women. The others follow him. Tull 
approaches the Woman, and kneels. 

Tull 
Let me take him, let me take my friend again in my 
arms. Jad has come back. He will come to me; he will 
know I am his friend again. 

\The Woman relinquishes the child to Tull, who 
holds him aloft and starts up the trail. Those 
who have remained follow him. As they go up 
the trail and into the forest^ the figure of the 
Sower is revealed. He is unseen by those 
ascending the trail. 

[50] 



The Sower 

Lo! 

From seed to flower and from flower to fruit, 

Now is the time of fruiting, of new life again! 

The year has come to its fullness; 

Swollen with the old urge, it has burst with its own riches. 

Little men, hear ye: 

Ye are no longer thrall to fed wants. 

You have braved the ruddy challenge. 

Your feet are on the ever-widening spiral, 

The golden fruits of wanting now attend you. Behold! 

[ Voices are heard singing and the hillside is thronged 
with figures in glorious colors of harvest y the rich- 
est hues of purple and gold ^ orange and red. Huge 
emblazonries of grape-clusters ^ of pumpkins and 
fruit, waving standards of corn. When the hill- 
trail is filled, the humans gazing upward in rapt 
wonder, the dawn fire is lighted. 

Voices {singing) 
Life spoke its fearful wonder in itself; 
Life came to its first dim knowledge of life; 
Finding it so good it would rest upon itself — 
Now in this star-born glade it would rest evermore, 
Dreaming its last victory be won. 

But Thou, the Sower, timeless and constant, 
Thou broughtest new seed to sow; 
New seeds of life unending, building ever upon itself. 
Thou art the never ending, all-wanting, all-begetting; 
Thou art the timeless, the constant, so old, so young! 

FINIS 
[51] 



SYNOPSIS OF THE MUSIC 

The incidental music of "Life" was conceived as an 
illustration of the philosophical content of the author's 
work. I did not follow the development of the action step 
by step, considered from the dramatic point of view, but 
embraced the full content, which I used as a source of 
inspiration for my music. 

The symphonical character of my work indicates that it 
must be subdivided into different sections to be consid- 
ered as interludes which, introduced among dramatic epi- 
sodes, serve as links thereof. By means of this episodic 
treatment, the auditor is given moments of repose from 
the mental attention which the literary work requires, 
and there is simultaneously created that atmosphere of 
which the art of sound is the magic tool. 

In what I have called the Preamble, I have tried to con- 
dense the constitutional elements of my work, liberally 
following the form which it suggests and stepping aside 
from the traditional form of the Overture or Prelude. 

Some sharp chords of the cornets over a persisting and 
continuous tremolo of the strings opens the piece {Alle- 
ge Risoluto)y and immediately afterwards appears a rhyth- 
mical fragment taken from the Dance of the Fruits: 



all". (W«»£" r 




•^JiD*—*- 



[53] 



to which follows a descending chromatic movement be- 
longing to the Dance of the Seeds: 




This brief introduction leads to a lyric Andante in 4/4 
time, the melodic content of which expresses the calm 
ecstasy which love evokes, even in primitive and rude souls. 

A characteristic and short rhythmic movement that the 
auditor will notice throughout all the work is in different 
forms: 



f *" ' 1 1 


(r) 


■ ,0, " T X-\\\ 


— tt H 


; vP: ^ — y ^T W 


—ft ' 


gt « 


J K\ A 




' ' ^ 




These lines serve to depict the insistent and insatiable 
"all-wanting, all-begetting" of human nature to reach the 
highest and final aim of life — love. 

This episode is braced up with the repetition of the ini- 
tial movement, preparing for the concluding part of the 
Preamble. This is a fugue, the theme of which, executed 
by the bassoons and cellos, is as follows: 



lOU.'. (i<'7J^ 




[54] 



One of the motives of the Dance of the Fruits, is com- 
bined with others belonging to the Dance of the Flowers. 

Toward the close of the piece, over the elaborated pedal 
of the theme's first movement, the love motive continues 
four times and always with greater intensity, interwoven 
with the first motive and the fugue theme as a dancing 
episode: 



; -y ' 1 


^,.tTtf>tf ^?t^^ 


tn^ut — 1 






mrrx;^= 


-T, If^T. 


\f^= 


tS^'iJ.ok 


^t=^fW^f^*fe=4k^ 


H Tir'^ ' 





The Preamble's general character, as well as the charac- 
ter of the other numbers, is rustic and the themes are de- 
cisively rhythmic. They are easily recognized, even when 
the polyphonic elaboration appears somewhat complicated. 

I have chosen the fugue form for the episode because its 
structure is proper to express the continuing, the for- 
warding and complicating of the same events and ideas to 
which the author of "Life" refers with so much insistence 
in his text. 

The Dance of the Seedsmen is founded on the following 
ideas: 



Oi!.'t^''f 




2.; , ff* 




[55] 



tfr^^ r— r-l 


^ ' 


T-ft# 


T&tu..i>j 


s~'l'ir4't^^ '■'^rrV^^ 


^ ^ — -= 1 






mvi ^Ti;T A \ ) . i ' . ^ ; ^ Tx, T --i.- v: ■ ' : '^^=^^^ 


-t^ — )^ ' '- 'i ' 


■^"^ — ^ — ' — ^ i^ -S-^i-f ^ -f ■ 


1 i<r. t^^t^ 

'rr^. i — 


^W'K. , 


-:U>* ^"cf^-taS ^l' ^^ ' 


M-t '■ .. rf 1 

3''* ^ — 


[i^ t ^ 


. ^1 



1. The chromatic and syncopated 12/8 movement ex- 
presses the tremor of life within the seed, and its repeti- 
tions between the Want and Love themes emphasize the 
insistence of Hfe upon manifesting itself in growth. 

2. Interwoven with the preceding is the theme of the 
Want, "all wants, all begettings," which is executed by 
the bells and other percussion instruments. 

3. The Love theme, which apparently seems to assume 
greater importance, is combined with the preceding theme 
of the dance. 

The form is free and could be described as a modern 
Rondo. 

The Dance of the Flowers is a slow waltz movement, 
executed by the strings in the first part: 



.\)(feWiiT!Wtf 




In the second period of the waltz is to be noticed the 
persistence of the theme of Want, which at the beginning 
is executed on attuned cowbells which successively round 
up amongst all the instruments, thus augmenting the or- 
chestral interest and coloring. 






^^ 



^ ^ 



^^ 



^ 



^^ 



^ 



[.5^] 



The following part (In A-flat) is built upon some Indian 
moods of Ecuador, which give an exotic air to the har- 
mony. It will be easy for the auditor to recall the love 
theme transformed and combined with other rhythmical 
elements of the second fragment of the fugue theme in the 
Preamble. 





T^ 



The waltz, toward the end, softly vanishes in vague 
dreams. 

The Dance of the Fruits, a short preparation on a pedal 
played by the basses, leads to the exposition of the theme 
executed by a full orchestra. 



^^^^irt'i i 



^^ '. 




This period closes with the reproduction of the love 

[57] 



theme which undergoes an immediate and new transfor- 
mation of its original rhythm. 



iii 




A new fragment guides to a repetition of the principal 
theme, which closes the first part of the dance. 




The second part (as a trio) opens with some Ecuadorian 
Indian moods which lead to the principal theme which is 
none other than the first member of the fugue in the Pre- 
amble. This, combined with the second part of the same 
theme, already played in the Dance of the Flowers, is devel- 
oped and repeated in successive polyphonic combinations 
leading to repetition of all the first part, which comes to a 
close with a vigorous coda. 

The choral section of the work must be considered from 
two different standpoints: 

I. The Sleep of Og and the Chant of Annunciation can 
stand by themselves because of their organic form, while 
the choral fragments, almost mystic in their nature, are to 
be considered almost as phonetic spots, forming part of the 
atmosphere in which dominates the word and thought of 
the Sower, "the constant, the timeless." 

[58] 



1. The finale belongs to the same category, notwith- 
standing the fact that in its rapid development it embraces 
many of the preceding themes. This comment crowns the 
triumph of the eternal law, love. 

The Sleep of Og is a primitive man's slumber-song, the 
text of which is enough to depict its true significance. 
The orchestral commentary of this chorus is an elabora- 
tion of the themes already heard. 

One of the principal means of expression lies in the fol- 
lowing phrase: 



■U^^-^ 1 


>-T^I 


^¥^ 


T^ 


]\ jj .-l-"!--! 








iT^i 


-rr — 1 


u ^ 


-H — 'tt i 


T*-^ — 


■^rt — 




-V-J — 


¥= 


i. 

-f — 


^■> % ^ 




-4^^-^ — 


-1 — ""- — 




''^'^ 





which from the choruses pass rapidly to the orchestra. 
The Chant of Annunciation opens with these chords: 



-gwr'. 1 




^^4^ 


^ 


M^ 


1 If ^ 


If^f ^.4l 


1 «ii» t 




itt 


^-^ 


i? H if if! 


f If H'r 




^ 




S^ 


rr^ — ^ 


*- 




^**7— ^ 


L- ^ 


i*- 



which are played by the harp, sustained by an organ point 
of the basses. 

The chorus executes a chant as a psalm. Each time the 
phrase is sung it is interrupted by the tenor solo, which 
repeats it with a slight alteration. 

In this piece, the orchestral work is very much developed 
and the Want motive appears with great insistence and 
variation, mingling with the Love motive and the others. 
The Ecuadorian Indian moods stand out prominently in 
these two numbers. 

[59] 



The work is scored for two flutes, and piccolo, two oboes 
and English horn, two clarinets, two bassoons and double 
bassoon, four horns, three trumpets, three trombones, 
tuba, harp, celesta, glockenspiel, tympani, percussion and 
strings. A set of cowbells, embracing the chromatic range 
of an octave and a half, has been introduced, I believe, for 
the first time as a symphonic instrument. 

DoMENico Brescia. 



[60] 



THE CREMATION OF CARE 

By 

Charles Caldwell Dobie 

Music by 

Edwin H. Lemare 

Under the direction of W. H. Smith, Jr. 

THE VOICE OF CARE Dion Holm 

THE HIGH PRIEST H. B. Johnson, Jr. 

SLEEP Frank P. Deering 

LAUGHTER Ernest H. McCandlish 

SONG Harold K. Baxter 

BACCHUS R. M. Hotaling 

ORACULAR VOICES 

Antoine de Vally Austin W. Sperry 

Charles Bulotti E. Leslie Taylor 

Easton Kent M. G. Jeffress 

E. J. Cardinall H. L. Perry 

Time: The Mythological Age 
Place: A clearing in the forest 



THE FRIDAY NIGHT 
ENTERTAINMENT 

JUNE THE TWENTY-SEVENTH 

Under the Direction of 
W. H. Smith, Jr. 



